Curing Boredom
by Mystery of the Emblem
Summary: Laslow never likes being under house arrest. It's so boring that he will do anything to keep himself amused, even if it means following a beetle around Prince Xander's chambers.


**Laslow and Xander's support is one of my favorites in Fates. This is just a cute little idea I've had while thinking about their support.**

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Since his arrival in Nohr, Laslow found his life quite different, but very entertaining. Though he had grown up with royalty, a certain pretty, blue-haired princess to be more specific, he never really considered her as such. Even though she held the title, there was nothing royal about their upbringing. It was a different world entirely to go from fighting for their lives, and that of their parents, to becoming one of two retainers to a future king.

He enjoyed Nohr immensely. It was a harsh place, but underneath their hardened exteriors, many Nohrians were kind people. Even grumpy Prince Xander. His duties kept him busy, but he got along well with his fellow retainers and even some of the members of the Nohrian royal family.

Not to mention there were plenty of lovely young ladies who had not even met him yet!

Unfortunately for Laslow, it was his love of the ladies that often got him in trouble, no matter where he was. He had grown accustomed to scolding, to being assigned difficult tasks to keep him busy, but it was Prince Xander who imposed the worst punishment on him he could ever have received. There were now two words that chilled him to his very core.

 _House arrest._

Despite his best efforts to behave, he often found himself in trouble with the young women of Nohr, which in turn put him in trouble with his liege. He knew his behaviors reflected poorly on the crown prince, but he just could not help himself, especially if a young woman was in trouble.

A troubled young lady was the reason for his current incarceration. She had been tending bar when three brutes entered and began saying crude things to her. She had tried to ignore them and continued with her job. Laslow had debated on stepping in, knowing his heroics would still upset Xander, when one man seized her by the wrist. He could not sit by, watching and hoping they would leave her alone. He jumped in to save her.

Somehow, Prince Xander took "saving a damsel in distress," and twisted it to "public brawling and destruction of property." Yes, the brutes had been arrested, but so had Laslow.

Laslow was fairly certain that Xander chose to do the most boring, tedious things he could think of while Laslow was being punished. The prince would not even spar with his retainers. His days were spent sitting on the floor of Xander's chamber, his back against the wall, trying not to die of boredom as he listened to the scratching of the prince's quill against parchment.

He also had to listen to the gloating of his fellow retainer, Peri. She took it upon herself to bring them their meals, just so she could flaunt that _she_ could freely walk out of the room without the risk of Prince Xander removing her skin.

It was the boredom, though, that crushed him. Time passed _so slowly._ He once tried to nap, which infuriated the prince. He was being punished, Xander had reminded him. He was not there for nap time.

There were some high points, though. He and Xander would talk. There was usually a kitty or two in the room. Once, one had jumped on his lap and allowed him to scratch her ears and chin before she left him to curl up in Xander's lap.

But mostly there was boredom.

He tried to find new ways to amuse himself, but often he was just lost in his own thoughts. One morning, he found himself deep in thought, oblivious to nearly everything but the _skrtch skrtch_ of Xander's quill. It was not even noon yet, but Laslow felt as if he had been in Xander's room for days. How many papers could one person handle, anyway? It felt as though the pile on the desk never dwindled.

Laslow sighed and stretched out his left leg. His right was still tucked under him. It might not be the most proper of positions, but he did not care at that point. He had not picked up a sword in days. He also had not practiced his dancing. He was going to get so rusty, he just _knew_ it.

As he mentally lamented how much work he was going to have to do with his dancing, he felt something bump against his outstretched leg. Laslow shook the cobwebs from his mind as he felt another bump. He stretched his hand out, thinking it was the cat that had followed them in Xander's chamber earlier that morning. Then he stopped. She was curled up on the floor, fast asleep in a shaft of sunlight.

He scowled and looked down. It was not a cat; it was a bug. A beetle, to be more precise. The sunlight that filtered through the window, providing a warm place for the cat to sleep, also shone off the insect's hard shell, giving it a green sheen. Its little legs kicked as it again bumped into Laslow.

"M'lord?" Laslow called. "There's a bug."

"Ignore it."

Laslow had the feeling that if his bug happened to be three feet of spider, instead of three inches of beetle, Prince Xander's answer would have still been the same. He drew his legs up to his chest to allow the beetle to pass.

He had been told to ignore it, but even watching a bug would be more interesting than just sitting all day. It trudged past him and to the wall. Once at the wall, it tried to climb. Its small legs kicked frantically as it attempted to find a grip. It only managed to flip itself over. Feeling sorry for the poor bug, Laslow reached over and put it back on its feet. He glanced at Xander, expecting a scolding, but the prince was too busy to catch him disobeying his orders.

The beetle must have realized climbing the wall was impossible, or maybe it just did not want to wind up on its back again, for it turned away from the wall. It trotted in front of Laslow again and made its way to Xander's desk. Laslow held his breath, worried that something awful would happen to the bug if it bothered Xander.

It stood again and tried to climb the leg of the chair. When that, too, proved too challenging, it landed upright on the floor. It was still for a moment or two, as if it was considering its next move. It began to move again, this time into the shadows under the desk. Laslow frowned as he sat back against the wall. If the beetle decided to climb Prince Xander's leg, his pants would undoubtedly be easier to hang onto than a wall or chair leg, it was very likely the beetle would not live for much longer.

He sighed. _'Gods be with you, little beetle,'_ he thought.

He returned to his thoughts, his mind wandering as much as the beetle. It had been a few brief minutes away from his boredom, but it appeared that was all he was going to get.

Or was it?

As Laslow recalled an old, familiar dance, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. It was the beetle returning from its trek under the desk. Whatever it wanted, perhaps a way out, was not under there. It wandered slowly to the middle of the room. Laslow leaned forward to follow its progress. It moved towards the door at first, then turned around and started to go back to where it began.

 _'That's the way out,'_ Laslow thought. With the door closed, however, the bug could not exit.

The beetle wandered over to the desk again. This time it headed to the far side. Laslow glanced at Xander quickly, then, certain he would not be caught, stretched forward on his hands and knees to keep an eye on his bug friend.

It hurried as quickly as it could along the wall for some time. Occasionally, it would stop and try to find an opening in the wall. With another glance at Xander, Laslow began to crawl after it. Perhaps he could help it find a way out. It was not fair for _both_ of them to be stuck in Prince Xander's room. Especially when Nohr was enjoying a bright, sunny day. Those were so few and far between.

Laslow was careful to not wake the sleeping cat as he carefully, quietly crawled after the insect. There was a crack in the wall near the window, but it was much too small for the beetle to slip through. When it realized it would not be leaving that way, the beetle continued across the wall under the window. It turned again and made its way towards the bed.

 _'Oh no,'_ Laslow thought, _'_ _I won't be able to follow it under there.'_ Even though he knew he could not fit under the bed, he still followed the beetle to the bed. Before either of them could make it to the bed, Xander noticed Laslow was not by his desk.

"Laslow!"

The shout not only caused Laslow to jump, and blush in embarrassment at being caught crawling along the floor after a bug, it also woke the sleeping cat. "M'lord?" Laslow's voice shook slightly. Why had he followed the bug? Yes, he was bored, but now he was also in more trouble.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"The beetle - "

"I told you to ignore it!"

Before Laslow could answer, the cat had spotted the beetle as well. She stretched, then pounced. With one swipe of her paw, the beetle went spinning across the floor. Xander scooped it up in his hand before she could attack it further. He carried it to the window. The beetle was briefly put down on the windowsill so he could open the window. Before it could fall, he had picked it up again and released it.

He then glared at Laslow, who returned to his place by the desk. It was sweet of Prince Xander to free the beetle. He could have just as easily let the cat eat it. He was also just a little jealous that the beetle had managed to escape confinement.


End file.
